Benjamín Noval, above on his way to winning the junior Worlds, and now he is set to move from Spanish club team Noval MMR Academy to Netcompany Ineos, with a big salary bump before he even starts (Photo: Toby Watson)
Benjamín Noval, who won three of the four gold medals available to him at the junior road Worlds and Europeans, is now set to move from Spanish club team Noval MMR Academy to Netcompany Ineos. And he has secured a big salary bump before he even starts.
The Spanish teenager, who only turned 18-years-old two weeks ago, has been destined for the British World Tour team for a long time. He signed his deal in June of last year, for the next two seasons.
But since he put his signature on that contract 16 months ago he has completed his second season in the junior ranks. Over the past year, he has often blown away the opposition, ensuring his stock has rocketed.
He is recorded his official results as having raced just 31 days this year – though some of his smaller races are probably not recorded on international sites. From 31 race days, he has 19 wins, including GC victories in four stage races.
His victories including the junior TT and road race at the road Worlds in Montreal, the TT at the Europeans in Slovenia and the Spanish road race and TT junior titles.
Noval on his way to stage victory and the overall win at Ain Bugey Valromey Tour (2.1) in France in July of this year
His victories at the Worlds alone would have been enough to put under pressure the financial terms he signed with Netcompany Ineos in the middle of last year.
But when the rest of his 2026 season is considered, it is little surprise Spanish media is reporting he has already agreed an enhanced deal with the British team.
Respected Spanish newspaper Marca has long reported the deal Noval struck last year for 2027 and 2028 was for almost €1 million.
It has now reported that deal has been set aside and new one signed; for up to five years and on a higher salary, That would mean the 18-year-old has already bagged a five-year deal of more than €2 million, and maybe much higher.
“Netcompany Ineos’s interest is longstanding… close to one million euros was in place since the summer of 2025,” the newspaper said. “(That was) a significant development given that other major teams had also expressed considerable interest in acquiring his services.”
But it explained Giuseppe Acquadro “his experienced agent, has secured a high-level contract”, which is says is about to be announced soon and involves a higher salary than initially agreed and a five-year term.
Benjamín Noval of Spain in the rainbow bands after winning the junior road race at the Worlds last month in Canada from France’s Simon Defrance and Sweden’s Elias Wändel (Photo: Toby Watson)
Marca added that, according to its sources, the rider and his agent have now put in place “the biggest contract in history for a rider of his age”.
He will definitely be part of Netcompany Ineos for the next two years and that looks like the best bit of recruitment the team has done for many years.
It has missed out again and again to other squads when trying to sign riders, young and experienced. And, more often than not, it has signed young riders it believed had great promise, only to fall short or prove themselves but immediately move on.
When Netcompany Ineos signed N0val last year, as a 16-year-old, it described him as having “all the hallmarks of a rider who can develop into something very special”.
From Astuarias in north west Spain, Noval’s father, also called Benjamín Noval, is a former professional cyclist who rode for some of the top teams in the sport, though never won a pro race.
He rode for US Postal Service, later Discovery Channel, for four years, including two seasons as a team mate of Lance Armstrong.
He then rode for Astana for three years, including for one season with Armstrong, and spent the final three years of his career with Team Saxo-Tinkoff, retiring in 2013.
Now aged 47 years, he has managed his son’s junior team in recent seasons.
Noval junior will be part of a significant Spanish group at Netcompany Ineos next year. It includes Óscar Rodríguez, Carlos Rodríguez, Markel Beloki and Javi Romo.